At Your Service
by Laura Schiller
Summary: How Shining Armor got his cutie mark.


At Your Service

By Laura Schiller

Based on: My Little Pony

Copyright: Hasbro/Lauren Faust

On some days, Shining Star would have said that Twilight Sparkle was one of the sweetest, smartest and best ponies of her age, and that he was proud to be her brother. This, however, was not one of those days.

"Shiiiinyyy … "

He ground his teeth as he looked up from his physics textbook. It was bad enough that he had to be the only one of their family with no interest whatsoever in the subject, without being constantly distracted from his homework by the demands of a bored little filly.

"I told you, I'm busy," he snapped.

"You're _always _busy!" She poked his side with her tiny horn. He swatted her away. "You never have time for me anymore."

He looked away from her huge, pleading violet eyes. "Just wait 'til _you_ get into high school," he grumbled. "Then let's see how much time you have."

"Ooh, can I?" Her face lit up as she began to prance in place. "Is that possible? There's a colt in my class who skipped a grade. Can I skip six instead? I'd love to be in the same class as you. I could help you with your homework. Can I see?"

She levitated his book away, screwing up her face from the effort, and craned her neck to read it as it hovered above her.

"Hey!" Shiny snatched it back with his front hooves. He didn't know what irritated him more: Twilight magicking his things without permission, or the fact that Twilight probably could, even at her age, solve the problem that was giving him such a headache. He was older. He should not be the one feeling like an idiot in comparison.

He _was_ older. Old enough to have received his cutie mark years ago, and yet his flank was still stubbornly blank. He still had no idea what he should be when he grew up, or what kind of name he should choose at his cuteceanera. All he knew was that he refused to go by "Shining Star" for the rest of his life, when even the mention of astronomy made him yawn.

"Just give it a rest, Twilight!" he snapped. "For the last time, _go away and leave me alone!_"

The little filly gasped. Her huge eyes filled up with tears, and she backed away from him on trembling legs as though he had hit her. Remorse stabbed him, and he put out one hoof as if to draw her back. He took a breath to say _I'm sorry_, to promise her he'd read _The Life and Times of Starswirl the Bearded_ aloud to her as much as she wanted, but then her eyes narrowed with anger instead.

"I'll tell Mommy and Daddy on you when they get home!" she spat, then gallopped out the door.

Shiny's guilt was replaced by a fresh wave of irritation as he turned back to his homework. If she was going to be such a brat about it, he wouldn't bother apologizing.

/

Half an hour later, he received a much more welcome interruption in the form of a phone call from none other than Princess Cadence. He jumped at the sight of her name on the caller ID, blushing furiously, thankful that she wasn't there to see. Cadence was the most stunningly beautiful young mare he'd ever set eyes on, and he still couldn't believe his luck that _she_ had answered his parents' ad for a foalsitter in the Canterlot Times. And what's more, she was also kind; she treated Twilight like a true friend, and never once made her feel embarrassed for being such a little bookworm and so different from other ponies. Twilight adored her, and in all honesty, so did Shiny himself. What in Equestria could she be calling about? Unless – unless –

"Cool it, buddy," he told his reflection in the desk-lamp. He unsnapped the phone and made a valiant effort to answer smoothly: "Night Sky Family. Residence. What can I, uh, how can I - how can I help you?"

_Oh, yeah. Real smooth._

"Shiny? It's Cadence."

"Yeah. Hi. I mean – good afternoon, Princess."

A gentle laugh travelled along the wireless. "Just Cadence, remember? All this princess stuff makes me feel old."

He hmm'ed in agreement. True, Cadence wasn't old. She was his age, a miracle in itself, considering how rare alicorns were even among the descendants of the Great Sisters. He loved how modest she was about it, too – but then with a brother like Prince Blueblood, you probably learned everything about how royals should _not _behave.

"Just calling to see what you're up to," she said lightly.

"Nothing. Um – homework." _Horseapples. _Too much homework to ask her out on a date, even if he had the courage. Even if she'd say yes. And he was enough of a Night Sky that he hated to shirk his academic duties, no matter how boring they could be.

"Oh, me too." She sighed. "Miss Quillfeather wants me to walk around the streets and study different styles of architecture."

"That sounds cool. At least you're outside." He cast an envious glance at the sunlight streaming through his window.

"I just think ponies are so much more _interesting_ than houses."

"True." Especially for someone who specialized in love magic, he could imagine. "But then, I think places say a lot about the ponies that built them, right? Like the Canterlot Library. Whoever designed that place was awfully proud of their books."

Cadence laughed. "Aunt Celestia, about two hundred years ago. And she is."

Technically, Celestia was her grandmother, many generations removed, but she preferred to be called "aunt" for vanity's sake and so her subjects did the same. Shiny couldn't imagine referring so casually to the Sun Princess, and the idea of talking to someone who _did_ made him so nervous that, once again, his store of conversation ran completely dry.

He did not know how long he would have kept on holding the phone in silence, but Cadence's gasp distracted him.

"Is that – is that Twilight?" she asked. "I think I see her a few blocks away, down by the docks. Is she allowed to go out by herself?"

Shiny went hot with shame. How could he not have noticed her leaving the house. "Of course," he lied.

"But she's so little … and … is that a book she's carrying? Wait - _Twilight!_"

A rush and a crackle sounded through the phone, as if Cadence had lost her magical grip on the little gadget as she launched herself into the air. The tone of her voice was more than concerned; it was frightened. What had she seen? What was happening to his little sister while he was miles away?

Shining Star did not stop to think. If he had, he might have reasoned that Cadence was right there, and that she could take care of the situation if anyone could. He might have told himself that teleportation was far too advanced a spell for a unicorn his age, especially to an unknown location – and, for that matter, so were shields. Instead of thinking, however, he simply closed his eyes – and was swept up by a thundering flood of magic unlike anything he had ever felt before.

When he opened them, he was standing over Twilight in a blaze of purple-red light.

_Crash. Thud. _A wooden crate bounced off the bubble he had made, landing sharply next to it. The frayed edges of a rope dangled from the deck of a sailing ship high above them. Dock workers in hard hats peered down, their mouths open with shock and concern. Shiny would have said something to reassure them, except that he felt numb as a statue. Only his forehead blazed with heat. Twilight gazed up at him in awed disbelief.

"_Twilight!"_

Cadence came soaring through the air, then cantering along the pier until she reached them. Her voice jolted him out of whatever trance he had been in, and his shield-bubble popped like a child's balloon. Twilight clung to him, bursting into tears, seeming to realize all of a sudden just what a close shave this had been.

"Thank Celestia you're okay," Cadence said breathlessly. "Oh, Shiny, I can't believe it! How could you possibly get here so fast? And that _shield _– I've been working on that spell for months, and I've never … "

Shiny ducked his head, not knowing where to look. He had never seen Cadence like this before – wide-eyed, dishevelled, helpless, and in awe of someone else, like a pony instead of an alicorn. He couldn't decide whether it was endearing or terribly awkward. In any case, the most important pony he could think of at the moment was his little sister, shivering against his chest, the top of her head tucked beneath his chin, shocked and scared and miraculously safe.

_Safe._

He recognized the warmth inside of him now, though he had never felt it in such concentrated strength. He had felt a bit this way after kicking Snowdrift in the face for making fun of an exchange student's eyes; the nickname "Derpy" had unfortunately stayed, but so had the bruise, and Snowdrift had not repeated the mistake. He had felt this way after forcing that nasty gryphon to give back the lunch money she'd taken from a unicorn colt half her size. And he had felt this way, not so long ago, while running his hooves through Twilight's mane and assuring her that no, she wasn't a freak, and yes, of course she would make friends her own age someday, and he'd kick the flanks of anyone who told her otherwise.

He wanted everypony in the world to feel safe.

Including and especially his little sister.

"You idiot, Twily," he said softly, levitating the book that had fallen to the ground in her confusion. He slid it into the already bulging saddle bag she carried, proof that it was the library she'd escaped to. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to read and walk at the same time?"

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm sorry … I didn't mean … "

"Hey. Hey, now." He wiped her tears away with his nose. "No harm done. Just watch where you're going next time, okay? And _ask _someone first before going somewhere. You scared us half to death, didn't she? I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that again."

"I won't," Twilight sniffed, stepping out of his hold in a brave attempt to look more mature. "Next time I'll ask first. Even if you yell at me."

Shiny laughed. "I'll try not to, but I can't make any promises."

He glanced over at Cadence, expecting a wry smile of sympathy from the mare who had to deal with difficult foals so often, but instead was disconcerted by the direction of her gaze. She was staring at his flank.

"Princess? Er … Cadence?"

"You have something there … "

"I – _what_?"

Twilight trotted around for a look, squealed, and came bouncing back, her tears forgotten in the delight of her discovery.

"A cutie mark!" she exclaimed. "A real one, with a star on it just like Daddy's! It's a shield, I know, like the ones the knights had in the old history books. That's so cool!"

"What do you know," Cadence teased, with a glint in her turquoise eyes that made him tingle all over. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn she'd cast a love spell on him – the absence of pink hearts, however, promised otherwise. "Our own personal knight in shining armor."

He grinned.

_Shining Armor, _he thought. _That will make the perfect adult name._

He swept them both a bow fit for a royal guard.

"At your service, my ladies."


End file.
